Can Blackhawks finally solve Predators and vault into a playoff position?
Goodbye, Motor City. Hello, Music City.
With the pesky Detroit Red Wings firmly in the rearview mirror after a 4-0 victory Saturday, the Blackhawks will now attempt to crank up the volume and scream past the fourth-place Predators during a three-game series that begins in Nashville on Monday then continues in Chicago on Wednesday and Friday.
They're excited, pumped and rarin' to go.
"It's great," said Patrick Kane. "We were just saying, usually you don't get something like this in the regular season. It's exciting that we have a mini three-game playoff series here and hopefully can gain some ground."
The Hawks are 2 points behind Nashville with one game in hand. Don't lose sight of Dallas, either, as the Stars have the best winning percentage of the three teams and will face Detroit four times in the next six days.
As for the Hawks, the question is can they finally solve the Predators and their headache-inducing neutral zone trap? Because they've had no answer thus far, scoring just 6 goals while dropping all five games (one in overtime, one in a shootout).
In the last three contests, the Hawks have been outshot 115-80.
"It's tough to get through sometimes," Kane said of Nashville's 1-3-1 defense. "We really want to play with speed and if we have to get it in deep and have to forecheck and do it that way, that's what it is. But we've got to find a way to beat these guys."
One way would be for Kane to explode offensively. After a red-hot start with 11 goals in the first 23 games, he's scored just four times in the last 22.
That's easier said than done, however, as Kane has 1 goal in his last 17 contests against the Predators. He's hoping that his first-period tally against Detroit on Saturday is the start of something big.
"I feel like for the most part I've had my chances," Kane said. "It just hasn't really been there for me, the finish lately. That's been disappointing because that's something I usually am feeling pretty good at.
"Nice to get one last night and hopefully propels me to a strong stretch to finish the season."
Said coach Jeremy Colliton: "He's been a huge part of the success we've had. He loves these types of games and I'm sure he's going to be a big part of it for us."
One thing the Hawks may have going for them is that the banged-up Preds will likely be without forwards Filip Forsberg (11G, 18A), Eeli Tolvanen (10G, 9A) and defenseman Dante Fabbro (19:20 ATOI) in all three games.
The Preds were 13-3-0 in their last 16 before dropping back-to-back contests at Carolina. In Saturday's 3-1 loss they were outshot 24-7 in the first period and yielded 48 shots for the game.
Having said that, goalie Juuse Saros has turned in four 40-save performances in the last month, going 10-4-0 with a .952 save percentage and 1.56 goals-against average. He's beaten the Hawks twice during that span, stopping 70 of 71 attempts.
Regardless of what happens, this will be an excellent learning opportunity for Kirby Dach, Philipp Kurashev, Pius Suter, Brandon Hagel, defensemen Wyatt Kalynuk and Ian Mitchell and goalie Kevin Lankinen.
But as Kane pointed out, it's also a big moment for the organization - one that hasn't advanced past the Round of 16 since winning it all in 2015.
"The success hasn't been ... where we want it to be," he said. "These are huge games for all of us because we want to be able to make a charge and push for the playoffs and be able to know we can beat teams we're trying to chase.
"Yeah, it's obviously important for the young guys and (their) development to play in important games, but I think it's just as important for the team."